April 23, 2026
Folk Arts in Bloom
Hooked Rugs in Missouri On exhibit at the Museum of Art & Archaeology, opening April 25, 2026 Thanks to artists, practitioners, and scholars like Mary Collins Barile, Boonville, Mo., the legacy of traditional hooked rugs has been practiced, passed on, and documented. Missouri Folk Arts thanks Dr. Barile for her significant input on this exhibit, particularly in the interpretative text. Her book Hooked Rugs of the Midwest: A Handcrafted History is a valuable and accessible read to learn more about this dynamic tradition’s roots and ongoing practice in our region. Three rug hookers are featured in Folk…
March 22, 2021
Exhibit: MO Blacksmiths Sampler
In 2019, Mid-America Arts Alliance and Missouri Folk Arts partnered to create a blacksmithing exhibition at the M-AAA offices at the Crossroads in Kansas City, Mo. Bernard Tappel of Osage Bluff Blacksmith Shop provided expert input and loaned objects. That exhibition and accompanying “hammer in” with Tappel and Mike McLaughlin were very well-received, but the event was short-lived. Fast forward to 2020, Missouri Folk Arts hoped to install a smaller version as the newest Focus Exhibit in March at the Museum of…
Jan. 27, 2020
Carnaval de Barranquilla
Carnaval de Barranquilla & Carmen S. Dence Folk Arts Focus Exhibit October 1, 2019 – February 7, 2020 In October 2019, the Missouri Folk Arts Program installed its inaugural focus exhibit, featuring the work of Carmen Sofia Dence, a master Colombian folk dancer, choreographer, and costume designer, from St. Louis, Mo. Dence and MFA Director Lisa L. Higgins worked together to identify the objects for the exhibition case and to draft exhibit and object text. Dence visited the Museum of Art and Archaeology on October 5, 2019 for Museum Day…